HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1265

BYRepresentatives Armstrong, Crane, Brough, Butterfield, Leonard, Lewis, Miller and P. King 

Revising provisions relating to homicide by abuse.

House Committe on Judiciary

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (15)

      Signed by Representatives Armstrong, Chair; Crane, Vice Chair; Belcher, Brough, Hargrove, Lewis, Locke, Meyers, Moyer, Padden, Patrick, Schmidt, Scott, Wang and Wineberry.

House Staff:Bill Perry (786-7123)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 12, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) provides for presumptive sentences for convicted felons based on the seriousness of the crime committed and the "offender score" of the offender.  The offender score is determined by criminal history and, for some offenses, by the nature of the current crime of conviction.  In the case of a current conviction for certain serious crimes, the points assigned for prior convictions are trebled or doubled.  If the present conviction is for Murder 1 or 2, Assault 1, Kidnaping 1, or Rape 1, then any prior conviction for those crimes is counted as three points towards the offender score, and any prior conviction for other violent crimes is counted as two points.

The seriousness of the crime of bail jumping depends on underlying crime for which bail was set.  Bail jumping on a charge of Murder 1 is a class A felony.  Bail jumping is a class B felony when the underlying charge is any class A felony other than Murder 1.

Last year the legislature created the crime of Homicide by Abuse.  That crime involves the killing of a "child or person under sixteen years of age, a developmentally disabled person, or a dependent adult" by an offender who "manifests an extreme indifference to human life" and has previously "engaged in a pattern or practice of assault or torture" of the victim.

Homicide by Abuse was ranked on the same SRA seriousness level (XIII) as Murder 1.  It was not included, however, in the same category as Murder 1 for purposes of determining offender scores or for determining the classification of bail jumping.

SUMMARY:

The crime of Homicide by Abuse is given the same status as Murder 1 for purposes of determining offender scores and classifying bail jumping.  A current conviction for Homicide by Abuse results in a triple counting of prior convictions for Murder 1 or 2, Homicide by Abuse, Assault 1, Kidnaping 1 and Rape 1, and a double counting of prior convictions for other violent offenses.  Bail jumping on an underlying charge of homicide by abuse is a class A felony.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

Effective Date:The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Roxanne Park, Sentencing Guidelines Commission.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The bill merely corrects an oversight in last year's legislation.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.